Bleacher Bums Forum

Whether it's this offseason or next, another teardown-rebuild is unavoidable at this point.  But I don't think Theo has the stomach for it - he'll want to go off and be a hero somewhere else instead.

Amen.

From Sharma’s latest at the Athletic...

Piggybacking Quintana, Adbert Alzolay was brilliant in his four innings of work. The young righty struck out seven and walked two, allowing just one run on two hits. What stood out for Alzolay were his breaking pitches, particularly a slider that he’d adjusted the grip on over the past 10 days under the guidance of director of pitching Craig Breslow and the two pitching coaches overseeing the players in South Bend, Ron Villone and James Ogden.

“We changed the grip on the pitch,” Alzolay said. “It’s more like a cutter grip so I can stay behind it longer. The velo went up. We put a lot of work on that pitch. I feel today it was good, it was working. But since it’s new for me, I think that pitch can get better.”

Alzolay said the previous version of the pitch was too much like his curveball in movement and velocity. This was in the mid-80s, while his curve remains in the high 70s and low 80s. The pitch is so new that Statcast labeled all 31 of his breaking balls as curves. But a look at the velocity of the curveballs makes clear that at least 16 of the 32 he threw were actually sliders (perhaps more) and as many as seven of the 14 swings and misses he got were on the pitch.

Pitching is the one field that it is not uncommon to see substantial increases in production in years 28 - 38.

It is not unusual for a pitcher's command to improve as they enter those years.  Someone with above average stuff, but below average command can see their command increase at a higher rate than his stuff decreases.

Also, those are the years where less effective starters are often moved to relief, where their increase in velocity often is a difference maker in middle of the road pitchers.

Finally, as Craig has mentioned, a tiny change in a pitcher's mechanics can cause a much greater change in production, both positively and negatively, than similar changes for a batter.  When a young pitcher makes it to the majors, they are mostly convinced that they have star potential, and are reluctant to make changes to the things that they believe caused their previous success.  By the time that they reach their middle to late 20s, the smarter ones begin to realize that their performance is more likely to decrease than to increase, unless changes are made.  It looks like pitching labs and pitching coaches are starting to convince pitchers at a younger age that change can be dangerous, but it can also be very good.

I think that the Cubs program is beginning to have an impact on older pitchers, many from other organizations, and their much maligned, but successful efforts to build their bullpen "on the cheap" as some have described it, is starting to show very good results.  Partly, I believe, this is due to the fact, as many have pointed out, that relievers tend to be the most variable in effectiveness from year to year, making turnover in the bullpen a good thing.  But most promising to me is that it looks like it can also produce results from those at a younger age, with earlier and greater results.

At this point in his career, I would hate to see Alzolay turned into a permanent reliever, but it is nice to see that he seems to have substantial potential as a reliever, and I kind of like to see the team go back to the older system, where younger pitchers were usually started off as a long reliever, and gradually worked themself into the starting role as they prove themselves.

Some of us here lamented that Cubs didn’t bring back ANY of the FA relievers from 2019.

So, Cishek has now been dumped by the Sox after a bad year, Strop was released by Reds, Phelps has a 6.53 ERA on the season. Only Kintzler is having a good season, but has had some of that Jeffress-good fortune with a FIP way higher than his ERA.

So, perhaps with exception of Kintzler and Cubs having a solid bullpen without any of those guys, maybe front office deserves some credit for its bullpen decisions.

Seems like a good group, although I question the wisdom of adding Wisdom.  Mostly because I am entirely ignorant of Wisdom.

If the Cubs get swept by the White Sox (and end the season with six straight losses), all the Cardinals have to do to catch up is go 5-2 in their remaining games. 

The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record (if applicable). If that’s also a tie, the next tiebreaker is intradivision record. If that’s still a tie, the next is record in the final 20 division games (plus one until the tie is broken).

The head-to-head record is 5-5